Chapter 374 - Trust

“…”

Hmm? Ren and the others are strangely quiet.

Ah, I forgot.

We’re fighting the Bitch Goddess seriously, so those guys can’t keep up with the speed at all.

It’s like the world is moving at an unbelievably slow rate.

There’s no helping it.

I use my power again, and chant magic on them.

『Oh Spirits. Oh World. The Proxy of this world orders, and requests for power. Grant unto them the power to fight』!

「All Revelation Aura Zenith」!

I raised it to its utmost limits. The strongest ability raising power is channeled through magic, and manifests.

“Eh… ah.”

As if they had been released from petrification, Ren and the others begin to move.

“This is…”

Naofumi: “To put it bluntly, it’s just an accelerated world. I let you guys match that Bitch Goddess’s speed. I’d like you guys to fight, and clear the resentment you held to this day.”

“I-is that fine with you?”

Raphtalia is keeping the Bitch Goddess occupied as she takes her blows.

And all of that damage is sent to me.

We were fighting on the premise that I was going to take them in the first place.

Or else Defense 0 Raphtalia wouldn’t have a chance of fighting her.

Naofumi: “Isn’t it obvious? What’s the problem? You guys have no need to dodge or defend. With all seriousness… release your strongest attacks at her! Your spirits will show your weapons the way.”

Motoyasu: “Understood!”

The first one to nod and start attacking the Bitch Goddess was Motoyasu.

The Spear understands the situation, and through the Spirits’ power, it changed to the Spear of X0.

Ah, I see… If it does that, they don’t have to keep spamming the X0 skills. If they used another skill, it would still damage that bitch.

「Gungnir Max」!

Motoyasu chucks a spear made out of energy.

But… The spear has a lot of throwing skills. Brionac was, similarly, a skill that shot a Spear of light, right?

Max is the limit of skill enhancement. There are other names, but if you proceed any further, you get things like Unlimited and Infinite; the units of measure start getting crazy.

“I’ll also go! Atlas, watch over me!”

Fohl approaches the Bitch Goddess, and unleashes a skill.

「Divine Demon Annihilating Blow Max」!

His entire body is tinted red, and all of his magic and Chi flow into his fists. With those fists, he struck the Goddess.

His blow landed in her abdomen, and the shockwave made it through her body, out her back.

Medea: “Don’t underestimate meeeee!”

If you think about it, it’s obvious.

If there are things among the X0 Series that don’t do enough damage, it’s more efficient to just use another skill, and now, there’s no one here but her.

What a miscalculation.

Well, she didn’t use those strange abilities the Reincarnators had developed a dependence on, and right now, we’ve been able to nullify her warped support magic, so we’re only fighting by the laws of this world.

No matter how high her level is, or how abundant her battle experience, we’re pretty much the same. What’s more, since the Legendary weapons are on our side, the reincarnators and their followers are little more than extra luggage for her.

Motoyasu’s attack grazed the Goddess’s face.

A clean line of blood was drawn across it, and as the Bitch Goddess put her hand on it, she began shaking incessantly.

“I’ll kill you! No matter what happens, don’t think you’ll die painlessly!”

Her expression is that of the devil, but nothing but refreshing feeling are flowing up from within me.

That’s Witch’s main body. What’s more, she played with the world as her toy, and plunged many souls into despairs.

If you think about it, the reincarnators were merely victims used by her until the end. They had no other purpose.

Though their actions did pose quite a few problems in themselves.

Naofumi: “What are you spacing out for!?”

On my voice, Ren and Itsuki snap back to reality.

“Yeah, then I’ll be going ahead! 「Variable Messiah Max」!”

Changing to the Sword of X0, Ren lowered a blade of light on the Bitch Goddess.

While her movements were fast, by the power of my support magic, and the barrier I used to seal her power, it’s not within a range where he’ll miss.

There’s also the saying battle experience speaks in actions, not words.

Medea: “Ku… die!”

The Goddess brandishes her own sword at Ren.

Ren: “Your swordsmanship is way too friggin’ shabby!”

Ren dodges the line drawn by her blade by a gap so small it made one doubt whether or not it had touched his skin. He stepped right in front of her.

「Meteor Sword Max」!

Just like that, he fires a point blank Meteor Sword, and all of the projectiles shot from it pierce her.

“GYAAAAAH!”

That really was an un-feminine cry.

But it’s a scream quite suiting for her.

I get the feeling Witch had similar death throes.

「Artemis Max」!

To support Ren, Itsuki pulled his bow back, and fired a skill from his Bow of X0.

A single arrow drew a beautiful curve in the ai before plunging itself into her chest.

The next moment, a large explosion surrounded her.

Oh… how flashy.

“Raphtalia-san, Motoyasu-san, Ren-san. Stand Back!”

As he said that, the shape of Itsuki’s bow changed.

… Something like a gun, or a Bow… it had both a thread and a trigger.

Is it a weapon that only changes shape when a skill is unleashed…? It seems to be like the X0 Bow.

Raphtalia: “Yes!”

Motoyasu: “Understood!”

Ren: “Do it! Itsuki!”

「Moonlight Buster Max」!

From the tip of his bow, a thick beam-like attack flew, and burned up the Bitch Goddess.

“GufaaAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Good grief, this Goddess doesn’t sound feminine at all.

But… she sure is tough.

Even after taking all their attacks, she isn’t damaged enough to make it impossible for her to continue fighting.

No, perhaps it’s better to say that she’s recovering her wounds the moment after they’re inflicted.

I feel my power as a god slowly declining.

“YOU BASTAAAARRDDDS!”

Oh? Has rage made her come at us for real?

Well, I can cover all her special attacks, and endure them, though.

But the Bitch Goddess just started giving a ridiculing laugh again.

Medea: “Well then, so be it. I’ll leave it at this. There are plenty of worlds out there. Be as content as you will with your worlds ephemeral peace.”

I was wondering what she was planning… Is she putting on airs, and fleeing?

If we give an opening, she’s definitely going to kill us. Nothing good is going through her mind.

That Bitch Goddess is preparing to use Space Teleportation abilities.

But the wall that covers the world and the Legendary Weapons act as the lynchpin that binds her down. They don’t let anyone get past them.

Naofumi: “Unfortunately, this world’s been made to shoot you down, you know? There’s no way you’ll be able to run away!”

Medea: “DAMMMMMIIIIIT! So you want to die that badly, do you all!?”

Having learned she couldn’t run away, Her upturned eyes of conceit turned to ones full of contempt.

Just give it up already! I definitely won’t let you run.

Firo: “Master, can Firo fight too?”

Naofumi: “Why are you being so reserved?”

Firo: “I mean…”

Firo looks at me with a troubled expression.

Right, she’s been quite for a while now.

Firo: “When Oneechan was fighting, she was really fast, and Firo couldn’t keep up with her, and when Firo finally became able to see her movements, the spear person used his attack.”

Ah… well Firo hates Motoyasu enough to flee to the other side of the planet for his sake.

Naofumi: “Anyways, everyone go at her with the intent to kill her. You know how to deal damage to her, right?”

Firo: “Yeah!”

Floating lightly, Firo begins attacking the Bitch Goddess with the Claw of X0.

Firo: “Um… 「Kaiser Nail Max」!”

As Firo swings her claws at the Damn Goddess, the protrusions from it grew into long blades, and cut her from all angles.

“I’ll also go! 「Grand Smash Max」!”

Midori calls out to Kuu and Marin, before releases a skill.

The Axe he hit into the ground send a shockwave through it that pierced the Bitch.

Quite a few skills are coming out here.

It’s like a succession of finishing blows.

Medea: “Ku, Don’t get in the way!”

The Bitch Goddess slashed at those closest to her, Motoyasu and Firo, with her sword.

「Doppel Mirror Max」!

There, Kuu used a skill, and a mirror manifested right in front of the man and bird.

Oh? That’s a defensive skill… No, a counter skill.

The mirror shatters, and the fragments shoot into the Bitch’s body.

How convenient.

“GUHAAAAH!”

But immediately after that, the Bitch Goddess was cut by a sword identical to the one in her hand.

I see. It’s the sort of thing where what’s reflected in the mirror is reproduced…

That’s quite dangerous.

“High Class Covenant magic 『Meteor Fall』 activate!”

From the sky, meteorites…

“Think before you use that!”

Everyone takes refuge from the falling rocks.

Of course, the Goddess wasn’t one to take the attack upfront either.

Just like us, she tries to run.

「Dimension Whip Max」!

「KYUAAAAAAAA」!

『I can’t have you forgetting about us.』

「Rafu~」!

Taniko binds the Goddess’s feet with her whip, and Gaelion started breathing fire onto the Meteorites to increase their output. Fitoria changed to her tank carriage, and fired its cannon.

At the same time, Raph-chan started bombarding with his ship from above.

Right, I cast magic on everyone.

It’s not like it was only on Ren and the other legendary heroes.

I targeted my magic on everyone I recognized as an ally.

At the same time, Defense Link and Meteor Wall are also up.

The world is granting me power to slaughter this Goddess.

Well, from her point of view, I may be acting extremely unfair, but compared to all the things she’s perpetuated up until now, it’s on the pleasant side.

The fact that Trash’s arrived here means things have been cleaned up on his side.

Naofumi: “Did you deal with… your woman problem?”

Trash: “… Yes.”

Naofumi: “I see.”

No matter the result, I left the Queen’s matter to Trash.

Trash: “I… truly am naught but sinful Trash! No matter what punishment Iwatani-dono gives me, I will not find regret in my decision!”

Right… next to Trash, the Queen stood quietly.

I don’t see signs that she’s being controlled.

Should I just wrap this up as a miracle brought about by the Spirits?

Nah, that doesn’t seem fitting… could this be the fairy-tale ending where the Hero saves his beloved wife from crisis?

I’ll tease them about it later.

“While I was supposed to have departed from this world, I continued to cause trouble for the people. I am… also going to lend power for the World’s sake. With this life at stake!”

Trash: “You shall not! Because I’ve lost so much, made so many mistakes, and seen so many things, I can say this. I will not permit you to use up that life of yours!”

Naofumi: “Yeah, even if you don’t, me and Raphtalia will definitely do something about it. You just have to do whatever you can.”

“Aultcray, Iwatani-sama… For someone who was merely used by the enemy…”

Trash stands in front of the Queen, and starts chanting magic.

Trash: “Mirellia, it’s at times like this that… you need a little magic!”

Fast!

Even if he has my support magic, he was able to complete his magic much quicker than Marin.

Trash: “High Class Covenant magic 『Ice Meteor』 Max! My wife… it’s your special… Watch me hit her with a synthesis of Fire and Ice!”

“I won’t lose either!”

Melty started playing an instrument that looked like a violin.

「Magic Amplification Max」!

A barrier-like thing is deployed, and the area is filled with highly concentrated magic.

This is… the world informs me.

It’s a double-edged skill that raises the potency of magic by several times for everyone.

Well, as long as I’m here, we won’t have any casualties among my comrades.

“You insolent rabble! Unhand me!”

The Bitch Goddess tries to sever the whip binding her legs.

As if I’d let that happen.

Before I could signal her to move, Raphtalia jumped into action.

「Gravity Hammer」!

A large gravity-magic-imbued hammer comes down on the Goddess from above.

The direct damage it inflicted wasn’t great, but it restricted her movement to as great an extent as possible.

“Gununu…”

Crushed by Raphtalia’s binding skill, the goddess is smashed into the floor.

But still, one step, two steps. She continues to walk forward to perpetrate her escape. But it’s too late.

The two giant meteorites hit her directly, and the area is covered in explosions.

Trash and Marin deploy magic barriers simultaneously, containing the explosive shockwave around her.

I also strengthen the Meteor Wall as not to have anyone injured.

With this, the Goddess should have taken major damage.

Those were magics chanted with The X0 weapons.

“___!!”

“As expected of the King of Wisdom…”

The Queen quietly whispers to herself.

Oh right, she’s supposedly head over heels for the man.

“Uuu…”

The Bitch Goddess, with her conscious faint, and tears streaming from her face, looks towards Trash.

“Why… why is Papa putting me through something like this?”

Uwah! She still thinks that’ll get through?

There’s a limit to not knowing when to give up.

Trash: “You are no daughter of mine! You dropped people into despair, and laughed at them with scorn. You’re just… a devil pretending to be of my own flesh and blood!”

Trash directs strong words of rejection to The Bitch Goddess, who had changed her face to reflect Witch’s.

Trash: “Everyone! Attack at once! This is the moment of truth!”

Trash doesn’t fall for her words in the slightest.

Even if they’re father and child, she’s long passed the limit to what could be forgiven.

It’ll be best for him if he can let out his feelings here.

“Damn! It’s too late for regrets!”

Around Trash, Melty and Marin, the allied army participates in Choral Magic.

For the soldiers, approaching the Bitch is a bit to heavy a task.

They participate in an attack at her like this.

“Naofumi-san!”

“I’ve kept you waiting, Iwatani-dono!”

Rishia and Female Knight ran over.

And…

“I have also… come!”

Having been freed from the goddess’s control, her body that was but a lump of muscle has returned to normal.

I see. So Rishia and Female Knight saved her.

This really is… an unnerving succession of miracles.

I’m being driven to shout out, ‘Is this supposed to be the last chapter of an axed manga or something!?’

No, I won’t say it, but…

“DIIIIIIIIE!”

With an angry look like that of the devil, the Goddess takes her shimmering blade, and swings it horizontally.

With so much force emanating from the edge of her sword, we… were not sent flying.

My Meteor Wall prevents that.

In the space before the next magic hit, Rishia and Female Knight ran at the Bitch Goddess.

「Brave Blade Mist Cross Max」!

A cross shaped gash emerges on the Goddess’s body, and to follow up, Rishia lunged forward.

「Dritte Slash! Throwing Max」!

She slashed at her, and after retreating a distance, her knife came flying at her.

“Hengen Musou Style Special Move: New Moon!”

From the Granny’s arm, a black sphere of Chi is shot.

The three’s attacks stop the Goddess’s legs.

Medea: “You keep emerging one after the other like flies! Do you really want to end my life so badly!?”

The Bitch Goddess saves up power.

Originally, if she was at her full powered state, I don’t think it would take any time for her to activate an attack.

Medea: “Ku… How utterly annoying! I’ll blow away this petty power that binds me all at once!”

She points her sword downwards, and uses power to try and purify my defensive membrans.

“I guess it’s time for the Oneesans to step in.”

“That’s right, Sadina-oneechan!”

“It would be troublesome if you were to forget me.”

Sadina, Kiel and Glass came running they activate their skills.

「The Great White Whale’s Heroic Charge Max」!

When Sadina uses her skill, a giant whale made out of water manifests in the air, and crashes into the Bitch Goddess at the same instant Sadina threw her spear.

「Dark Soul Mist Dispersal Max」!

But even before Sadina’s attack could land, with erratic steps, Kielberus disappears, and materializes behind the Bitch Goddess. She slashes multiple times with her Scythe that emits a black aura.

「Kenbu Kyoku: Mu Max」!

Matching Kiel’s dancing movements, Glass swings her fan at the Goddess consecutively.

“Gu…uu… dammmit! Quite it already!”

The moment before Sadina’s attack landed, Glass and Kiel retreated.

Sea foam splashes onto me as her skill rained down on the goddess, and after giving off the sparkle of a X0 weapon, the harpoon returned to Sadina’s hand.

“Gu… without fail, you guys… even your souls will be tormented for eternity. I have no further need to care about what happens in the future. Everything, even my memories of this sh*tty world… I’ll erase them all.”

After all this smacking, it’s amazing that she’s still alive.

“High Class Covenant magic 『Sunlight』 Max!”

Trash and Marin, as well as all of the soldiers participating in this fight, merge magic… It becomes a flare as brilliant as the sun, and hits the Bitch Goddess.

Well, originally, their allies would have been dragged into it as well, but because of my influence, they aren’t taking any damage.

And in order to ensure it hit, the other Heroes cast a few binding spells on her.

“Just how far will you insects go to tick me off!?”

Just where does her unwavering fighting spirit come from?

That’s the only point I give a high evaluation to. Witch was similar, though.

Raphtalia: “Naofumi-sama.”

Atlas: “Naofumi-sama.”

“Yeah.”

A Half-transparent Atlas pops out of the Shield, and nods.

Raphtalia looks to me for her next action as well.

That’s right… I’ll have to decide our next move.

『Oh Spirits. Oh World. The Proxy of this world orders, and requests for power. I wish for a world without gods, and for that I exercise your power. Pillars that bind the world, power unto me』!

In Raphtalia’s hand, a stake made out of light appears, and she uses her hammer to drive it in.

“Single Shot special! 「Infinity Bunker」!”

A heavy impact occurs, as Raphtalia’s stake bores into the Bitch Goddess.

At the same time, a bright flash of light was sent out.

“GUAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The light gets visibly stronger, and I can feel it through my skin that the Bitch Goddess’s power is dispersing.

With this… It would be nice if she were to die.

Raphtalia finishes her attack, and lands back by my side.

Medea: “Fu… fufu… for small fries, you did well coming this far.”

… What a tough one she is.

Medea: “I’m just about sick of seeing all of your faces. Now let me brush away all your makeshift powers, and watch you as you wallow in regret, having even your souls burned away!”

I feel the lynchpins I called down get pulled out, and the Goddess raises her speed even further.

The only ones who can keep up with her speed are Me, Raphtalia and Atlas.

Medea: “I’m done. Now that you’ve made a fool of me to this extent, I have no need to hold back.”

Hold Back… for her to still display such leisure while being beaten to a pulp, I seriously question where this overflowing tenacity comes from.

I wonder just how much time it will take to defeat her.

But…

I break out into a smile.

The Bitch Goddess amasses power greater than ever before.

Her whole body shines, and a sinister magic manefests itself into wings on her back.

Medea: “Let me bring an end to all of this!”

I hold my Shield out front, and prepare myself.

“100% Deadly Aim, 100% Death, 『Infinity Destroyer』. All that awaits you all is death. The past, present, future, parallel worlds, divergent worlds, the law of cause and effect. Not a single thing in the world will be able to stop it; you will merely perish! Infinity, eternity, speed of light won’t be enough. Now go die already!”

I perceive her targets. It’s everybody here, and every chain binding her to this world.

And… the Laws of this world that preside over them.

She has enough power output to reduce them all to nothingness.

It’s completely different than any attack she’s displayed before.

It’s a single blow that will use up all of her being.

It’s power deserving of the title of God.

This absolute power even transcends time, and after she repeatedly condenses it, she releases it.

I couldn’t even see it before, but now I can follow it.

Red, and black.

Threads… each and every one links to death. They’re imbued with a concept to bring an end to all possibilities.

And those threads, just how many hundreds, thousands, millions… She has an amount there beyond my counting prowess.

The past, present, future, parallel worlds, divergent worlds, the law of cause and effects, an attack to rob all of those away from me.

That attack…

Lord Geno… I mean Naofumi: “… I was waiting for it!”

I… deploy my powers as a God, and from the Bitch Goddess’s conceptual attack, I protect everyone. I take it all into myself.

The threads of death entangle around me, and send me through all time, all worlds, all possibilities…

Medea: “Aha, ahahahaha. Who are you trying to protect? With this, you’re dead. And with the next shot, it’ll be my win.”

“Sorry, there won’t be a next one.”

The Shield absorbs all of the Bitch Goddesses Infinity destroyer, or whatever she called it, and absorbed it into a single point.

Naofumi: “I’ve had enough of your childish exchange. As a God Killer, I’ll show you the greatest of counterattacks.”

This attack doesn’t have a name.

But… In order to wait for her to use her skill, I had Raphtalia and the others work together.

There’s wars of attrition, even in a battle between Gods.

But if two beings who won’t die combat each other, then when will they reach an agreement… or when will they find an end?

Yes, in the end, one side is the loser.

To childish logic like that… I reached a single conclusion.

Naofumi: “Atlas.”

Atlas: “Yes, Naofumi-sama.”

Naofumi: “Raphtalia.”

Raphtalia: “Yes, with this, it’s over.”

I nodded.

An end will come to everything

「– Positive Feedback Reflection」!

I changed the nature of the interweaving threads of death.

The red and the black change to green and white.

And I redirect them in the direction of the single person trying to destroy everything.

The altered power is amplified several times, and sent right back.

Medea: “You just sent back my Infinity Destroyer as is? How unfortunate. There’s no way the attack I used myself would have any effect on myself!”

Naofumi: “Were you not listening? I’m sure I included a positive feedback in there. I amplified your power, and sent it back.”

Medea: “Gu…”

The conceptual attack flies towards her.

Ironically, it’s the same scene as when I hit back Witch’s magic on Cal Mira.

While the firepower is completely different this time, the essence is the same.

In the end, the trivial battles between me and this woman are something like this.

Witch: “This cannot be! But with an attack of this level, I won’t even get a scratch, and I can dodge.”

Naofumi: “Hey, are you getting forgetful about your own attacks? Your attack was 100% Deadly Aim, 100% Death. Past, present, future, parallel worlds, divergent worlds, the law of cause and effect. Not a single thing in the world will be able to stop it; you will merely perish! Infinity, eternity, speed of light won’t be enough, wasn’t it?”

Medea: “Hmph. I have the ability to avoid such an attack, so there’s no way it–”

Naofumi: “Then try it. I don’t plan to join you in your childish dialogue.”

Medea: “Even if you defeat me, the true incarnation of me is still in the outside world, so–”

Naofumi: “Forgetting things again? Parallel worlds, divergent worlds, the law of cause and effect. Not a single thing in the world will be able to stop it, you said. All fragments and the main body will be killed at once, of course. The attack you launched against everything… wasn’t it supposed to invite absolute death?”

Medea: “Something like that won’t work on–”

Naofumi: “100% Deadly Aim, 100% Death, right? What’s more, I added on Positive feedback. It’s your attack, and not mine. If you can dodge it, then show me the results. Well, that only goes if you survive it.”

Justice Punch! Barrier! Justice Punch can go through barriers! This is a Barrier that Justice Punch can’t go through! Then Justice Punch that can go through the barrier that Justice Punch can’t…

It’s like that sort of endless dialogue.

I’m not going to keep her company for that.

It’s just that there’s a definite result in this one.

Will it work? Will it not? That’s it.

“Ku, my power has the ability to render an attack like this usele–”

Naofumi: “Do whatever you want. And if you manage to withstand it, I’ll play with you.”

“Gu… an even more powerful infinite energy is… kuaaaaa…”

The Bitch Goddess’s scream echoes.

When her words entered my ears, I remembered something.

“… Ah, right. Witch, you kept thinking the Hero of the Shield was weak, and that he had fallen behind in strengthening methods, so let me tell you.”

She’s not in a position where she can hear me, but I turn my back to her and continue speaking.

“The Hero of the Shield’s Strengthening method is trusting people… It’s the earning of their trust.”

When you think about it, it’s self-evident.

For the Hero who can do nothing but protect others, he has to depend on others to live.

He believes in those that fight by his side, and they believe in him as well.

Like that, the Hero of the Shield finally gets stronger.

And even going about their lives without knowing it, this method was transferred to Ren, Motoyasu and Itsuki as well.

To hate someone, to wound someone… for us, who continued to take on meaningless quarrels with one another, it may sound presumptuous.

But that’s why we can believe in those by our side.

Raphtalia and Atlas, and everyone’s gaze.

They give the Shield its power.

From now on, I’ll probably still be tricked and betrayed by others.

And when that comes, pwerhaps I’ll be driven by fear to hurt others.

But now, in this moment… I feel that my heart that trusts others is real.

And the fact that I can think this is only because I was hurt a lot, and had those wounds healed.

On that day, at that time—I was alone in the world… Because Raphtalia believed in me, I could get all the way here.

“If you have even the slightest understanding of that, then you probably won’t die here.”

Well, I don’t think she can do that, though.

“As… as if something as stupid as that could— sto, GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Eventually, the Bitch Goddess started a battle with her own power… I wonder just how fast time has been sped up.

And… It was the attack she had made herself, and from my amplification, it should usher in death. In all times. In Parallel, and divergent worlds. Even the law of Cause and Effect won’t be able to effect it, and all that was left for her was to perish.

The remains of her enormous power flowed into me, and through using it for the disappearing world, I used it all up.

“Fuu…”

“So it’s finally over.”

Raphtalia said as such.

“That’s right.”

Atlas responded with a slight feeling of amazement.

I mean she’s justified.

After playing out this farce, in the end, she fell by her own hand.

I’m sick to death of her stupidity, and her childish ways of attacking.

But I know there are many out there who would do things like her.

She was merely the tip of the iceberg.

Naofumi: “Even so, when I first got to this world, I thought I would partake in a glorious story of adventure… or something stupid like that, but I wonder how things turned out like this.”

Raphtalia: “So you were thinking things like that?”

Naofumi: “No, I mean when I had just gotten summoned here, you know.”

Atlas: “Naofumi-sama is always glorious, be it now or back then.”

Naofumi: “No, that’s kinda undesirable in itself…”

We exchanged such idle banter, as we stop the accelerated state, and return time to original rate of the people here.

“D-did you do it?”

Naofumi: “Yeah, but that phrasing raises a, ‘Final Form’ Flag, so please don’t.”

Those were the words I returned when Ren stepped forward as s representative of the rest.

I don’t ever want to fight something like that again.

Well, when they came to it, the Bitch Goddess was gone. I can understand their surprise.

While she was supposed to be erased from the Laws of the World, the power she left behind made her remain in everyone’s memories.

The Lynchpin had worked from the start, and most of it still remained.

Or else perhaps my own existence would vanish.

Along with the worlds’ legend of the four heroes.

Naofumi: “That Bitch Goddess disappeared without leaving anything behind. It’s our… victory.”

On my declaration, I hear cheers of joy.

The people smile, and let loose tears of joy, as they raise their voices.

And the Spirits sparkled like stars, offering us their blessing.

“UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!”

An oppressing presence had left the world.

Perhaps all life on this world had sensed it.

Our long battle ended, and all the lifeforms in the world looked forward to a brighter tomorrow.